c/butchers

13

anna_carter53•1d ago

My brand new bandsaw blade snapped after 3 hours of use on Monday

I was cutting through a big pork shoulder, right around 6 in the morning, and the blade just let go with a loud pop. Turns out I had the tension way too high - the manual said 30-35 PSI but I cranked it to 40 thinking it would cut cleaner. Now I'm out $45 and had to finish the whole primal with a hand saw. Anybody else had a blade fail on them from over-tensioning?

8

king.jordan•2d ago

My brand new breaking knife chipped on the third day

Picked up a new Victorinox breaking knife last week, felt great in the hand. On the third day, I hit a bone a little too hard and a chunk came right out of the blade near the tip. Had to stop mid-shift and grab my old beat up knife from the truck to finish the side of beef. Anyone else had this happen with a newer blade or did I just get a bad heat treat?

32

grace_hunt84•2d ago

Why does nobody talk about trimming with the grain on brisket?

I spent like 3 years trimming briskets the same way, just hacking off fat however. Then last month a customer asked me why the slices looked ragged, and I realized I was cutting against the grain the whole time. Flipped it around, and the whole deckle came off clean. Has anyone else had that 'wait, I'm doing this backwards' moment?

19

kevin_wells46•3d ago

Tried dry aging vs wet aging a ribeye primal side by side

Got a full primal from a local ranch last month and cut it in half. Dry aged one side for 28 days in my mini fridge setup, wet aged the other sealed in its bag. The dry aged one had way more beefy flavor and that nice funky smell. Wet aged was tender but tasted kinda flat. Won't bother with wet aging again for steaks. Any of you guys dry age at home? What's your go to time frame?

4

jamierodriguez•4d ago

Hot take on breaking down whole animals vs buying primals

I been butching for about 4 years now. Always bought whole animals, felt like the right way to do it. But last month I tried buying just primals for a big catering order. Saved like 3 hours of work and got way less waste. The primal cost more upfront but I didn't have to deal with bones and scrap. Got me thinking. Is breaking down whole animals always worth it for the tradeoff? Or am I just stubborn about old habits? What do you all think - whole animal or primal cuts for your shop?

15

the_emery•4d ago

Brisket trimming clicked for me after a year of messing it up

I watched this old timer at a shop in Austin trim a packer in like 4 minutes flat. He left a perfect quarter inch fat cap and shaped the whole thing into a football. I tried copying him the next day and ruined a $90 brisket at home. Three months later it finally started making sense after I slowed way down and stopped trying to shave off every little silver skin spot. Anyone else have a trimming style that took forever to get right?

26

jesse_west•17d ago

Dropped my Wusthof for a Victorinox and never looked back after 8 years

I was at a shop in Portland and the old timer there handed me a Fibrox. Said my German steel was overkill for breaking down chickens. Tried it that weekend and honestly I cut faster and sharpen less. Anyone else switch to a lighter knife and stick with it?

26

allen.amy•18d ago

Serious question, is dry aging worth the effort at home?

I've been cutting meat for about 8 years now, mostly at my shop here in Portland, and I always thought home dry aging was a gimmick. But a buddy of mine set up a $40 mini fridge with a humidity controller and aged a prime rib for 28 days last month. The crust was unbelievable and the flavor was way deeper than anything I've gotten from a wet-aged Cryovac pack. Has anyone else tried this with a basic setup, or am I just lucky he didn't mess it up?

6

felixw68•18d ago

Customer told me my steaks were cut wrong, and he was right

Guy who used to work at a high end place in Chicago pointed out I was cutting too much against the grain on ribeyes. Changed to a 45 degree angle on the last 3 cuts and the texture came out way better. Anyone else get feedback from a customer that actually helped?

24

white.grant•22d ago

Hit 500 pounds of custom trim packs in one shift this week

I've been cutting meat for about 18 years now and never thought I'd see the day I hit 500 pounds of custom trim packs in a single shift. We had a big catering order come in last minute Wednesday and I just kept moving through it without thinking about the count. Any of you old timers remember when 200 pounds felt like a big day?

8

jennifer_west52•22d ago

The 24 hour dry brine trick that changed my pork chops forever

I used to just season and cook pork chops right away and they were always kind of dry. A buddy at the shop told me to salt them and leave them uncovered in the fridge for a full day. I tried it last Monday on a bone-in chop from a Berkshire hog we got in and the texture was night and day different. Has anyone else noticed a big jump in tenderness after doing a long dry brine?

7

the_sean•24d ago

Bought a $60 magnetic knife holder for my station and it stopped my blades from hitting the stainless steel table

Installed it last Thursday and the edge on my breaking knife has stayed sharp way longer since the blade isn't banging against metal every time I set it down, anyone else switch to magnets or stick with the old drop-in drawer?

15

fiona737•24d ago

Noticed a huge difference in my grind consistency after I started chilling the grinder head

Been grinding my own meat for about two years now. Used to get smeary, warm results especially with pork shoulder. Then I started throwing the grinder head and auger in the freezer for 20 minutes before use. Night and day difference. Clean, distinct grind even after the first pass. Anyone else have a simple trick that fixed their grind quality?

19

hugo_singh•26d ago

The day my bandsaw blade snapped mid-shift on a Saturday rush

I was working a busy Saturday at my shop in Cincinnati, cutting up a whole hog for a regular customer who needed specific chops. About halfway through the loin, my bandsaw blade just snapped with a loud crack. I had three other orders pending and no spare blade that fit that particular saw. I had to stop everything, run to the supply house three blocks away, and grab a new blade. Got back and found my cooler started leaking from the door being left open too long. Now I keep two backup blades for each saw in a labeled bin near the cutting table. Anyone else have a tool failure at the worst possible time?

24

lucasc58•27d ago

Been trimming ribeyes too lean for 8 years until a customer showed me

I always cut all the fat off the cap because I thought people wanted lean meat, then a regular named Frank told me I was ruining the flavor and that he'd been buying his ribeyes elsewhere. He pulled out a picture of a properly finished ribeye from a shop 20 miles away and I could see the fat cap was double what I was leaving. How do you all handle the fat cap on ribeyes, do you leave a thick layer or trim it back some?

5

grant.jade•29d ago

PSA: Left a whole brisket on the counter overnight at a BBQ comp in Kansas City

I was at this backyard competition in KC last summer, got up at 4am to start trimming, and just spaced out. Left a 16lb packer out for 6 hours before I caught it. Some guys told me to toss it, but I figured what the heck and cooked it anyway. Internal temp hit 203 after a 14 hour smoke and it was fine. Anyone else ever accidentally done the whole room temp rest thing and it worked out?

16

avery_foster31•29d ago

My old man's cleaver vs the new ones in my shop

I been cutting for 20 years now and I pulled out my dad's old cleaver from the 80s last week. Thing has a patina like you wouldn't believe and the edge holds way better than the stainless ones I been buying from the supply catalog. My theory is the steel back then was just harder, they didn't make em as cheap. Anybody else notice older tools just last longer or am I just getting sentimental?

13

jenny_fox•29d ago

Found out my local grocery store gets their beef from a supplier 40 miles away... cheaper than the farm 10 miles down the road

I was looking at invoices at the shop last week and noticed the price difference for the same grade of beef from two different suppliers. The one 40 miles out charges $1.20 less per pound than the local farm that's practically in my backyard. This got me thinking about how we figure value as butchers - do you lean toward supporting the nearest producer even if costs are higher, or do you go with the better deal from further away?

3

hill.sarah•1mo ago

Had a Saturday where every primal I broke down just... worked perfectly

It was last month, a slow morning at the shop in Portland. I had this big steer hindquarter, and the first sirloin came off cleaner than I've seen in 15 years. Then the topside, the rump, even the shank - each cut just fell right, no wasted trim. I'm usually against believing in "good days" because it's about skill, not luck, but this one had me second-guessing. Has anyone else had a shift where everything clicked and you couldn't explain why?

12

sageburns•1mo ago

My knife sharpening routine changed everything after 3 years in the shop

I used to just use a pull through sharpener. Quick and easy. But last month I finally sat down with some whetstones from a guy at the Calgary butcher supply. Took me about 4 hours to get the hang of it. Now my steaks cut cleaner and I'm not replacing knives every 6 months. Anyone else switch from pull through to stones?

0

veramartin•1mo ago

I finally learned why my steaks were inconsistent after watching a TikTok from a real butcher in Chicago.

Visited a small shop in Milwaukee last month and watched them cut a whole ribeye primal, and they showed me how the weight of my knife was throwing off my angle - has anyone else had to completely retrain their hand feel after years of doing it wrong?

0

davis.ivan•1mo ago

Old timer told me to chill beef for 48 hours before grinding

Guy named Pete who's been cutting meat for 40 years said letting beef rest in the fridge for two full days before grinding makes a huge difference in texture. I tried it on a chuck roast last week and the burgers came out way less mushy than when I grind it fresh. Anyone else find that extra resting time changes the grind quality?

15

blair_gibson78•1mo ago

I spent 3 hours chasing a grease trap clog that should have taken 20 minutes

Everyone says you gotta use hot water and enzyme treatments to keep grease traps clear. I bought into that hard for my shop. But last month I had a backup that just would not budge no matter how much boiling water I poured. Turns out the problem was a chunk of hardened fat that had wedged itself in the outlet pipe about 4 feet past the trap. Had to pull the whole thing apart and snake it out. Took me 3 hours after work to fix what a $15 drain auger could have done in 20 minutes if I had just checked the pipe first. Anyone else had a simple fix get blown way out of proportion because you trusted the common advice?

29

andrew646•1mo ago

Hot take: I used to think old head butchers were just set in their ways about trimming fat

A guy named Frank at the shop I worked at in Denver told me I was leaving too much silver skin on pork loins, and I brushed it off for months because I thought it was fine. Finally tried his method of taking an extra 30 seconds per loin to really get it off clean, and my yield actually went up because customers stopped complaining about chewiness. Has anyone else had a senior butcher call them out on something they thought they were doing right?

18

paul_mason12•1mo ago

Watched a pork shoulder go from tough to falling apart in 45 minutes flat

I had this picnic shoulder that just would not cooperate last Friday. Been braising it for like 6 hours at 225 and it was still chewy as hell, temp stuck at 195. I got frustrated and cranked my smoker up to 300 just to see what would happen. Took a quick break to restock my display case and when I came back 45 minutes later, that thing went from tough to literally sliding off the bone. Probe went in like butter on the first try. I think the heat spike forced the collagen to break down all at once instead of slow and gradual. Has anyone else had a stubborn cut suddenly give up after you pushed the temp higher? I'm wondering if I should try this on purpose next time instead of just giving up.